A Tennessee man who has been arrested for stealing a semi admitted that he did it just to prove that he was capable of driving a heavy duty commercial vehicle.
The Church Hill Police Department was contacted around 10 a.m. on Saturday when owner Ken Harmon noticed that his 1997 Volvo bobtail was missing from the lot where it had been parked.
According to the police report, “I did observe skid marks on the pavement where the truck was driven away and the rear emergency brake was still engaged.”
Around 3 p.m. the same day, Justin Sloan, who is related to Harmon, spotted the stolen Volvo on the road.
After calling 911, Sloan followed the truck back to the lot where it had been stolen.
Sloan confronted the alleged truck thief, 20 year old Christopher Dakota Tunnell, about whether he had permission to take the truck off the lot.
Tunnell replied, “No, I have always been told I could never drive one, so I walked down here this morning and took it to see if I could drive it.”
Tunnell was arrested and charged with felony theft and felony vandalism.
Two of the truck’s rear tires were severely damaged because the brakes were engaged while the truck was being driven. The cost of replacing those tires is an estimated $2,500.
Sources:
Kingsport Times News